Capital Outlay 2003:

This year was a very good  year due to  revenue for the State of New Mexico from the severance tax fund.  The requests for our District 9 totaled $11,36,611. I was given $1,071,400 to meet these needs. Many of the much needed projects will not get funded  this year.  I had to make a decision as to where the funds were needed the most after consulting with community leaders in Rio Rancho, Corrales, Bernalillo and Sandoval County.
 
  • Funding for a new Sandoval County Health and Community Services Complex.
  • A new Ambulance and Police Cars for Rio Rancho.
  • Money for a park in North Hills and a bike path between North Hills and Northern Meadows.
  • Paving for Fruta Road.
  • Remodeling at the Meadowlark Senior Center.
  • Security Cameras and door and window repairs at Rio Rancho High, Mid-High, Ernerst Stapleton Schools.
  • Paving for the south end of Loma Larga Road in Corrales.
  • Equipment for Corrales Elementary School.
  • Office Equipment for Corrales Senior Center.
  • Repairs and new signage for the Corrales horse and bike trails, Bosque   Preserve, Welcome Center, Equestrian Arena and north and south entrances to the Village of Corrales.
  • Equipment for Corrales Recreation Center.
  • Basketball Courts at the Corrales Recreation Center.
  • Addition to the Bernalillo Police and EMS Station.
  • Renovation of the Bernalillo Town Hall.
  • Equipment and repairs for Cibola High School.
  • And then some funds for Explora Children’s Museum, Balloon Fiesta Park, Musical Theater of the Southwest Highland Theater, and Museum of the Southwest at UNM’s New Mexican Horse preservation project.
  • The projects which did not get funded this year will have first priority next year.
  • This link will take you to a spreadsheet of Capital Outlay request for 2003.
    Also see: http://legis.state.nm.us/BillDisplay03.asp?SponsorCode=SKOMA&Folder=02+Regular  for a full text of the requests.

    Capital Outlay 2002:

     
    This year was a very difficult year due to decreased revenue for the State of New Mexico and the general needs of the State.  The requests for our District 9 totaled $33,312,508.  I was given $800,000 to meet these needs.

    Many of the much needed projects will not get funded this year.  The communities who do get projects this year will get less or nothing next year.

    For a list of requests you may reference the Legislative Webb site at

    http://legis.state.nm.us/senatedetails2.asp?District=9++&Submit=Search

    This is all contingent on the Governor signing the capital outlay bill.

    Capital Outlay Requests 2001:

     
    This is our opportunity to fund the many community needs within the District.  District 9 is the largest Senate District by number of voters in New Mexico.  We however, will not get any more money than the smallest Senate District.  No, it isn’t fair, but it is reality.  Every Senator will get the same amount of funds to spend in their District.

    I have received $24 million worth of requests for our district!  You can see the list of worthy projects by going to the part of this web site which lists my bills.  There are Capital Outlay Bills at the end of my list of Bills.

    If the truth were known, we probably need twice that much in worthy projects.  It is unknown at this time how much will be available to each Senator, but it will be a fraction of what we have requested.

    I hope you will understand my frustration as I have to make judgements as to what to fund and what not to fund.  In some cases, it may be less money than was requested, but it may serve as seed money for next year’s same process.



    Controversial Votes 2003:


    There are many issues addressed every time the Legislature meets.  There were 1,039 House Bills, 32 House Joint Resolutions, 124 House Joint Memorials, 51 House Memorials, 934 Senate Bills, 27 Senate Joint Resolutions, 1 Senate Resolution, 104 Senate Joint Memorials, 65 Senate Memorials.

    That means we had 2,377 pieces of legislation that we considered over the last 60 days.  Some passed and some failed, but all were heard at some level.  We often met until 2 am hearing bills in Senate Judiciary Committee.  Now it is up to the Governor.

    We will not agree with each other on all the bills, but here are a few which were controversial.
     

    EDUCATION REFORM: 
    I voted to create a Secretary of Education and to reform our education system to reward good teachers and to get the money to the student level and out of administration where not necessary.


    TOBACCO SETTLEMENT PERMANENT FUND:

    I fought to preserve this fund, but the needs of the State to financial leverage  these funds with Federal dollars was overwhelming.  We tried to amend it every way possible to allow a sunset and revert to the previous status.  Several bills passed and it will depend on the governor’s signature to see the final outcome.


    HATE CRIMES:

    A tough issue, which was not clear cut due to the way the bill was written.  There was too much vague language to protect the innocent and therefore I could not support it.


    COCKFIGHTING:

    I was the major sponsor of the Senate Bill to do away with this form of gambling.  It is not a sport.  I had the bill tabled in Conservation Committee because the Executive Branch did not want to sign or veto the bill.  I am going to keep introducing this bill until it is passed.
     
    SOCIALIZED MEDICINE:
    Healthcare, or more properly labeled “Sickcare,” is a broken system.  Universal healthcare is going to happen.  It needs to happen on a Federal level as long as we travel out of state and get sick or in accidents.  We can not do it as a state when the rest of America is still getting their healthcare from the traditional system.  We have spent 100s of thousands of dollars to study this already and we are not ready to sacrifice what we have for an experiment with our citizen’s health.


    JOB AND HOUSING DISCRIMINATION FOR SEXUAL IDENTIFICATION:

     This is another tough issue that is more complex than it appears on the surface.  We do live in a free country…….. however there is still considerable disagreement as to whether gender identification and sexual preference is the same as race, age, religion or national origin.   The problem with this bill is that it uses the word “perceived” and therein lies many of the problems.  If you fire someone or do not rent to them, they can say that “you perceived them to be…. Whatever” and therefore you discriminated against them even though they are not “Whatever.”   There were many other problems and I could not vote for the final bill because of many flaws.
     
    DISTRICTING THE SUPREME COURT: 
    This was my bill which was never scheduled to be heard because of the fear of the Democratic Party that different parts of the state would elect representative people for their area and the Rio Grande corridor and  Democratic Party would lose their total control of the highest court.
    DANGERS ASSOCIATED WITH WOLF RELEASES:
    This was another of my bills which passed one committee and then got tabled in the second committee.  It would have protected people and animals on PRIVATE land from injury from released wolves and their offspring.
     
    Equal PAY FOR Equal WORK:
    This was a true bill to prevent discrimination against women and minorities for wages in the marketplace and I supported it wholeheartedly.
     

    Controversial Votes 2002:


    HB 170 Prescriptive Privileges for Psychologists

     
    I voted against this bill because it was not as presented.  It was not a bill to give more access to Mental Health Services in rural New Mexico.  It was a bill to expand the practice of Psychology to Psychiatry without going to medical school.   There have not been any people in the State who needed a prescription for a psychotropic drug that has not gotten it if their family doctor felt they needed it when called by a psychologist or counselor.

    If signed by the Governor, we will be the ONLY state in the 50 to allow this.
     

    SB 32 Parental Notification
     
    I voted for this because I firmly believe as a physician this was a pro-family communication bill and not an abortion bill.  It has been passed in >40 states and has been upheld by the US Supreme Court. It totally protected young women who would be endangered if their parents were notified.  There were only 6 such cases where parents were not notified last year in Texas where this is already law.
     
    SB 5 Medical Cannabis Act
     
    After this bill was amended to the same form we had last year and with the addition of it being contingent on New Mexico getting a permit from the Federal Government to grow and distribute cannabis to patients, I voted for it.  This is a very controlled bill which would make available to a very select group of patients a drug which could relieve their pain and suffering.
    SB 485 Redistricting of the Senate
     
    I voted for this bill, which was the best compromise that could be achieved by an 8 person interim committee made up of 4 Democrats (Leonard Tsosie, John Arthur Smith, Linda Lopez, Michael Sanchez) and 4 Republicans (Lee Rawson, Carroll Leavell, Sue Wilson Beffort, Dianna Duran).

    It is an equal bill as far as population in each district, which will help all the large districts like mine.  On paper it gives the Republicans a chance at winning 21 seats and the Democrats 21 seats.  However, strong incumbents regardless of party always have an edge.  If the election were held today with the same players, probably the out come would be the same.  There are no districts where incumbents will have to run against each other.

    I will lose, all of my Bernalillo County precincts including North Albuquerque Acres, La Luz, Cedar Crest, Sandia Park, Paako, Campbell Ranch, and Edgewood.  I will lose Placitas, Pena Blanca, Cochiti Lake, half of Bernalillo, Sandia Pueblo, and half of Corrales.  I will pickup a lot of northwestern Rio Rancho while losing my southeastern part of Rio Rancho.
     

    Education…………………
     
    This was a 30 day session which in reality is supposed to deal with financial issues and there were many which effect teacher salaries, operational funds for growing school districts like Rio Rancho, and school maintenance and building.  Many were put in the budget, but we will not know if the budget was signed for perhaps 20 days after we recess.
    Medicaid………………….
     
    It is an election year and much rhetoric was spewed forth to make you think we all love children and elderly, but the reality is that this part of government expenditure is more than we have money to support.  I make my living practicing medicine and have and do take my share of this money.  The problem is not unique to New Mexico and is a national crisis.  The best thing we have done is created a new committee (oh no, more talk without action) to find a solution like we did with the workman’s comp crisis a few years ago.   We cannot keep paying for everything Medicaid patients need.  Their health benefits are better than you could buy with commercial health insurance.  The time has come to get some reason into the system if we want any money for our schools and economic development, which will bring more money into the State to fund needed social programs.

    Controversial Bills 2001:

     
    The First Session of the 45th Legislature has come to an end, and I’m sure you are curious what we have accomplished in this 60 day session.  I am just as curious as you are.
     
    Hours and hours of debate and testimony have been heard.  A fraction of the 2,112 bills introduced,  will pass the system.  Some of those will be vetoed.  Some will be signed into law.

    Was it worth the effort and expense?  That will be determined as we see the outcome of these new laws on our lives.

    There are bills introduced in the Senate and other bills introduced in the House of Representatives.  The titles are often the same, but the bills are often different.  Also bills get amended in every committee they go through and also on the floor during debate.  Two bills with the same name may actually do opposite things under the same title.  Always read the bill in as amended a form as possible, before you decide whether you are for it or against it.

    My vote was always made after hearing all the testimony and then asking myself the question “What is best for the people of New Mexico.”  Some issues are so divisive that I felt I should explain my votes, and the logic behind my decisions.
     
     

    Cockfighting and Animal Cruelty:

     
    This was a perfect example of how the title of a bill does not necessarily explain what a bill really does.  I was a co-sponsor of the Senate Bill to do away with animal fighting.  When we first heard the bill in committee, I realized that the sponsor was carrying the bill for constituents who really wanted more than the ban of cockfighting.  In fact when asked to change the wording to cockfighting, it was not accepted as an amendment.  Later they were to admit they had already drawn up amendments to exclude falconry and other activities like training of hunting dogs, but they hid the fact that they would be included in the ban if the bill as written had passed. They even denied when asked directly in committee if it affected falconry and they testified it would not.  When you find out people are not being totally consistent in their actions, you begin to question what bills really do.

    We also heard more testimony to NOT ban than to ban animal fighting.  I had no recourse but to vote to not change law since it was not clear what this bill would have done.  As we have further analyzed the bill it would make your child with a pet snake a 4th degree felon if he invited friends over to watch him feed a live mouse to his pet snake.  You can watch this on PBS or Animal Planet and we call it nature and education.  In your home it would have been a 4th degree felony.  Would you have me vote for such a deceptive bill?   I voted NO.

    I supported and voted for the bill to change the animal cruelty bill to no longer exempt animal carriers, exhibitors, and research facilities as it was amended.

    I also voted for the bill to protect our amphibians and reptiles from commercial collectors to sell elsewhere for the pet market.
     
     

    Guns:

     
    There were many bills related to guns and gun law.  I am neither a hunter nor a member of the NRA.  I however know that criminals have no trouble obtaining guns.  It is the role of government to protect the honest citizen’s right to own a gun. This is the stuff our Constitution is made of.    My votes were to support conceal and carry laws, which have been shown to decrease crime.  I also voted against faulty trigger locks, which would not be used by the people who are irresponsible with their guns now.  And I feel strongly that you can’t legislate responsibility or parental control of their children.  We need to enforce the laws that are on the books already.  We need to hold the judicial system accountable.

    Parental Consent for Abortion:

     
    I repeatedly voted for and testified for notification of parents for a minor requesting an abortion.  This law already exists in 38 states and would protect a victim of incest or risk of physical harm by allowing a judge to give consent for the poor girl. It would help get good parents and good daughters who had made a bad decision, to communicate and work through a tough development in their lives.  This was law to help both parents and girls who are at a real crisis in their lives.  This would not adversely effect good physicians who feel they should perform abortions.  It would protect families and girls from unscrupulous abortionists.

    Medical Use of Cannabis:

     
    I have never used, seen or treated anyone under the influence of marijuana.  I would not recognize the smell.  I had no reason to want easier access to marijuana other than the good it might do a patient.  I spent many hours researching the issue, and interviewing patients and doctors who where for and against its use.  I finally arranged a meeting of the New Mexico Medical Society Executive Committee with the health department and advocates on both sides of the issue.  We voted unanimously to support the bill if it had very tight controls and this is the bill, which passed the Senate and the House.  This was not in any way the “camel’s nose under the tent.”  This is how the bill will work.
    1. Doctor has patient who they think needs cannabis as a pharmacological medicine.
    2. He refers the patient with their medical records to the Secretary of Health.
    3. A nine member panel of doctors nominated by the NM Medical Society and approved by the Senate, reviews the records and recommends whether to approve the patient for the program and what quantity they are authorized to use.
    4. The patients who are accepted into the program with receive a photo registration card, which will identify them as a participant in the program.
    5. The patient will get their allotted amount of cannabis from the State Health Department.
    6. The cannabis will be produced and packaged by the State.
    7. The patient’s physician will monitor the patient on a monthly basis.
    There will be a sunset clause, which means the program will need to be re-evaluated in a few years.  There is no opportunity for the misapplication of this law.

    Not all medications work in the same way if given as a pill or inhaled or given as a shot.  Cannabis is available as a pill, but it does not work as well as when inhaled for nausea, pain, or muscle spasms.  There will be less than 100 patients who qualify for this program and most will be dying with cancer or AIDS.  It can be inhaled without being smoked or even burned.  The drug is released at a temperature lower than combustion.  I voted for this to be available under this program to help the doctors and patients in New Mexico.

    Decriminalization of Marijuana:

     
    I have not supported this in any form other than medical use as tightly regulated.  I believe that all substance use and abuse is one of the major societal problems we face as a people.  The legal substances are just as abused as the illegal.  I ask the question why we can’t enjoy our life and families without their use?

    DWI Laws:

     
    I voted on all DWI laws to increase penalties and treatment whenever possible.  I also supported ignition lock controls on DWI cars.  I recognize that alcoholism is a disease and needs treatment.  However, we have got to get them off the streets to protect our citizens.

    Death Penalty:

     
    This was a very eye opening topic for me, and I learned a lot over the 20+ hours I spent hearing testimony, debating options, writing new legislation and interviewing police, prison guards, prisoners, families of victims and clergy.  In New Mexico today only murderers of police or prison guards on duty are subject to the death penalty or prison time with parole.  The prison time is usually applied by a jury rather than the death penalty, and these people are back out on the streets.

    The evidence shows that the death penalty is possibly not a deterrent to crime.  It costs more to execute than to life imprison.  It doesn’t bring back the murdered person and families adjust to the murder with time and no longer want revenge. And finally, there is always a chance the wrong person was convicted.

    I would have you read my solution to this dilemma in Senate Bill 110.  I am convinced that the threat of a death penalty does save the lives of police making a late night stop on a lonely road as well as prison guards held hostage by prisoners.  My bill does the following:

    1. Keeps the death penalty but also adds the option for a jury to apply a sentence of life imprisonment with out parole.
    2. Adds the following crimes to death penalty or life without parole:
    A. Murder of a peace officer or prison guard even when not on duty or retired.
    B. Murder of a child.
    C. Murder of multiple persons (Hollywood Video or Oklahoma City bombing )
    D. Murder in a heinous manner (torture, dragging behind car, decapitate, etc.
    This was actually brought all the way to the floor of the Senate, but in a power play was sent back to Judiciary Committee to keep it from being passed.

    Indian Gaming:

     
    This is another tough issue.  We have 3 casinos in our district and just as many people for as against gaming in any form.  The compacts were renegotiated with all but two tribes, and it was a general feeling that we needed to get our past money owed and get on with life for the Pueblos as well as the rest of New Mexico.  This was a compromise, and I want to thank Dr. Guy Clark who has been untiring in his representation of the groups against gaming in our state.  There were equally hard working people helping to resolve this issue for the pueblos and Governor Paisano and Frank Chavez from Sandia Pueblo worked very hard as well.

    When as to vote for expanded gaming off the Pueblos including Keno with the Lottery and increased slot machines at the tracks, I voted No.

    I did vote for the new Compacts after weighing all the options.  I hope this issue is over, but the Federal Government will eventually need to make some decisions.

    Deregulation of Electric Utilities:

     
    I learned more about power grids, distribution lines, power generation, and who supplies whom throughout the  State than I ever thought I would want to know.  I voted to delay deregulation for 5 years, and I do think this was the best solution given the problems in California.

    Socialized Medicine:

     
    Bill 911 was the same bill heard many times in the past with no new wrinkles.  It basically gave everyone everything with no evidence we could afford it or even an estimate of what it would cost.  If passed, you would no longer be allowed to have private insurance.  Everyone would be forced to have the same coverage from the State.

    We have a problem across America, and are in the middle of a restructuring of the fundamental delivery of health care.  With our limited resources, we need to watch carefully the other states that tackle this problem.  I voted No on single payer, i.e. Socialized Medicine for New Mexico.
     
     
     
     
     
     

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